Jacketed boning material and method of making same



May 1, 1956 F. DICK 2,743,458

JACKETED BONING MATERIAL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 5 1953 INVENTOR.

United States Patent p 2,743,4ss

JACKETED BONING MATERIAL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Franklin Dick, New York, N. Y., assignor to Richard A. Fisch, Long Island City, N. Y.

Application August s, 1953, Serial No. 372,473

3 Claims. ((11. 2-256) This invention relates to a jacketed boning material having unusual properties in that the jacketing is fixed in place on the boning.

Boning material is extensively used in undergarments such as brassieres and outer garments such as ladies dresses, etc. to obtain stiffness along certain desired predetermined lines. It has been the practice to attach boning material to such garments by first confining the said boning material in a tape-like or fabric jacket. Usually two tapes with folded edges are employed to envelop the boning material, the tapes being sewed together at the edges which extend beyond the edges of the boning. No matter how much care is taken it is practically impossible to obtain a real close fitting jacket. The enveloping is usually done on a two needle sewing machine in which the needles are spaced somewhat greater than the width of the boning so that both sides of the enveloping tapes are united simultaneously. In this process some space must always be allowed between the edge of the boning and the series of points where the needles are to penetrate and the result is a loosely jacketed boning.

There are many advantages, both expected and unexpected to a boning material with a tightly fitting jacket in which the boning cannot slip. With a tight fitting jacket all of the strain placed on the boning material is not concentrated at one point but rather is distributed along the length of the enveloping jacket. Some of the more unexpected advantages will be described below.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide a jacketed boning in which the boning material is held tightly in the jacket.

Among other objects of the invention is to provide jacketed boning material having unexpected flexing properties.

These objects and others ancillary thereto are obtained by employing a boning material which will tend to split only in the lengthwise direction if penetrated by a needle, jacketing this boning material in any desired way and finally stitching and jacketing together down the central portion of the boning material.

Boning material which tends to split only in the lengthwise direction when penetrated by a needle is disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,531,234 and in general comprises a plastic boning obtained by extruding two incompatible thermoplastic materials having substantially the same softening temperatures. Two such incompatible thermoplastic materials are cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate. When these two compounds are mixed in widely variable proportions and continuously extruded under heat and pressure to form a strip, the thus obtained strip has what has been called an embedded thread structure. Although the product appears to be homogeneous on its surface when bent sharply it resists breaking and tends to separate into a multiplicity of longitudinal threads. When punctured by a needle the needle does not make a hole in the usual way but spreads the boning material transversely.

The invention will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating one step in the production of the product of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the jacketed boning taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal view of the product of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 5 illustrates an unusual bending property of the product of the invention.

The jacketed boning material 50 comprises central boning 10 and jacket 11, 14. The boning material 10 comprises a longitudinal strip obtained by extruding a mixture of 10-90% cellulose acetate and -10% of cellulose acetate butyrate. This boning is covered with tapes 11 and 14. The tape 11 has under folded edges 12 and 13 and tape 14 has similar folded edges 15 and 16. The edges of the tape are united by stitching 17 and 1 8. This much of the production of the jacketed boning is in accordance with established practice and it produces a product in which the jacket formed by tapes 1:1 and 14 rather loosely surrounds the boning 10 although in Fig. l the looseness is somewhat exaggerated.

Thereafter the tape is sewed directly down the center portion as by stitches. This series of stitches 20 pulls the central parts of tapes 11 and 14 together producing a tight jacket about said boning 10. In addition the needles produce a series of longitudinal splits in the boning 10. However, although the strip 10 is split substantially along its entire length, the split is not complete and there are always a few thread-like portions appearing on one side of one penetrating thread and on the opposite of the next succeeding thread, etc., so that the overall structure of the boning is retained. Thus, the effect of two small bone structures held together at the edges is obtained. One effect of this structure is shown in Fig. 5. Since, in eifect, the boning 10 comprises two narrow strips held together at the edges it has the property of curving in the lateral direction while retaining its flat shape. This is a desirable property especiallysince it frequently happens that the line along which stiifeningis desired is not straight but in the form of an arc. Thus, unusual effects and on occasion better fit may be obtained.

If desired the tendency to split may be promoted, wear on the needles used for forming the center stitch may be decreased and increased tightness may be obtained with the boning 10' of Fig. 4. in this modified form of the invention depressions 21 and 22 are formed longitudinally of the boning 10, preferably during the extruding process. The depression 21 or 22 can extend along only one side of core 10' if desired.

In use, a strip of tape like that of Fig. 3 is cut an inch or so longer than required in the garment to which it is to be attached. The stitches near each end are removed for approximately half an inch and the fabric is turned back to permit about a half inch of material 10 to be cut from each end. The extending ends of the fabric are then bent under and attached to the garment. Of course this step of cutting off the ends of the boning is not essential since there is no tendency for the bone to slip out of the jacket and the strip can be attached to a garment through the extending side edges.

When this jacketed boning is fixed to a garment any thrust on the bone is not all transmitted to the end of the jacket but is distributed all along the jacket cover.

Also, the product can be attached to a garment along the direction of an are as shown in Fig. 5.

The features and principles underlying the invention described above in connection with specific exemplifications will suggest to those skilled in the art many other modifications thereof. It is accordingly 'desired that the appended claims shall not be limited to any specific feature or details thereof.

i claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a jacketed boning material for stiffening garments comprising a fabric jacket enclosing a core of stiff thermoplastic strip material having an internal fibrous structure and comprising a mixture of two incompatible thermoplastic materials having similar thermal softening points, said fabric jacket comprising two longitudinal sewed edges extending laterally from the edges of said thermoplastic strip, said jacket being tightened upon and secured to said strip by a series of stitches extending through the central region of fabric jacket and the strip, each stitch of said series splitting the strip material longitudinally for a substantial distance and serving to expand the resultant parts of the boning toward the sewed edges, a first portion of the strip on one side of the series of stitches being movable with respect to the second portion on the other side of the series of stitches but the movement thereof being limited by the jacket and by the fibrous structures connecting the first and second portions and extending between the stitches where the adjacent splits produced by the separate stitches are not continuous with respect to one another.

portions extending along opposite edges thereof adapted for attaching to a garment, tightening the jacket on said boning and simultaneously expanding the boning transversely with respect to the jacket by stitching the boning and jacket longitudinally along a central portion thereof to split the boning at a multiplicity of points which are slightly out of alignment to provide two loosely connected longitudinal parts of the original strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 584,334 Dodge June 15, 1897 2,230,788 Uellendahl Feb. 4, 1941 2,531,234 Seckel Nov. 21, 1950 2,531,843 Durey et al. Nov. 28, 1950 2,601,269 Fisch June 24, 1952 

